April 13, 2007
GETTIN’ THE PARTY STARTED
Deborah Peterson Small poses with her photo at the party.
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No celebration is complete without a little booty-shaking. And for the first time, some 75 Housing Works clients, staff and friends cut loose and celebrated the annual Keith D. Cylar AIDS Activist Awards on Wednesday with a high-energy dance party at the Housing Works Used Bookstore Café in SoHo.
“This is a great party,” said Deborah Peterson Small, recipient of this year’s Virginia Schubert Courage Award, while taking a break from dancing. “It makes me think of Keith and his energy. He was a party animal and loved to dance. Dancing is very therapeutic and healing and creates community. That is the energy I feel here tonight.”
Keith Cylar’s mother Anna Patton, who sat elegantly along the edge of the dance floor, said, “ This is all just wonderful. Keith would be so happy. Housing Works was his life, and everyone here is doing a great job carrying on his legacy. The awards get better every year.” Patton commended Charles King for his work, adding he could hold his own on the dance floor.
The mid-week boogie-down provided a much-needed release: The awardees and some 45 clients spent hours meeting with legislative staff on Capitol Hill the day before. For those who couldn’t come to last night’s awards, this was the chance to par-tay.
“We organized the dance party this year so more folks in the Housing Works community would have the chance to meet and hang out with the awardees,” said Robert Cordero, development director for Housing Works.
Supermix DJ Lynn Johnson played hip-hop hits, R&B classics and get-up Latin music, including 50 Cent’s “In da club” and Diana Ross’ “I’m coming out.” The first few notes of each popular song were met with cheers. The folks on the dance floor came together as one for the Electric Slide, though you couldn’t have dragged Cylar honoree Larry Bryant out there. “ When I see the Electric Slide, I move away from the dance floor!” he admitted.
“It was just beautiful and I enjoyed myself a lot,” says Dania Chazez, a Housing Works client since 2003 and HIV positive since 1998. “Being involved is really exciting for me. I was able to talk with [Cylar awardee] Violeta and take a few pictures with her!”
The party raged till 9pm, when the final notes of Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” filled the air. The remaining hip-shakers helped clean up before heading home to rest up for the week’s crowning event, the Benefit Gala.
Said Carlotta Fitchette, Keith Cylar’s cousin who traveled from Bladensburg, Maryland, to attend the dance party and gala, “I hope Keith’s looking down and enjoying this. He was just my baby cousin, and when we were growing up, he was a pain in the ass! I remember when he was in ACT UP and I first saw him being arrested on the news. I was so proud. I still am.”